Broad Buys a Warhol Liz Taylor; Announces Anniversary Shows

Andy Warhol, Liz [Early Colored Liz], 1963
The Broad is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its Grand Avenue museum with exhibitions and acquisitions. Among the latter is a 1963 Andy Warhol portrait of Elizabeth Taylor, Liz [Early Colored Liz]. It was auctioned at Christie's last year, as part of the Robert B. and Beatrice Mayer collection, for $19.3 million.

Liz is one of a group of 13 silkscreen paintings derived from a publicity photo and executed in different colors. Others are at San Francisco MOMA and the Chicago Art Institute.
Richard Prince, Untitled (The Velvets), 2007
Purchased in the same Christie's sale, though from the S.I. Newhouse collection, is Richard Prince's Untitled (The Velvets). A sort of homage to Warhol, it depicts four members of The Velvet Underground, based on a publicity photo from an L.A. appearance. The Velvets sold for $1.12 million.

The Broad has also announced a series of single-artist surveys drawn from the collection. Already up is Christopher Wool; to come are installations devoted to Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kara Walker, Roy Lichtenstein, Taskashi Murakami, and Warhol. Though all have been well-represented in previous Broad installations, the rotations promise many works never shown at the Broad before. The Wool display has 16 works, of which 13 are on view for the first time.

"Desire, Knowledge, and Hope (with Smog)" (Apr. 4–Aug. 16, 2020) will add L.A. artists John Baldessari, Mike Kelley, Barbara Kruger, and Ed Ruscha. Kelley's 2005 installation Gym Interior will make its Broad debut.

A so-far untitled exhibition of new acquisitions is planned for Sep. 26, 2020–Feb. 14, 2021.
John Baldessari, The Spectator Is Compelled…, 1967-68

Comments

Anonymous said…
The Warhol picture is a masterpiece, but I kinda wish The Broad would venture out and purchase art from more underrepresented artists rather than same blue chip ones. However, it's a great painting. Many cities don't even own one piece by him. Angelenos have several options to view his work: The Broad, MOCA, LACMA and Huntington.
Anonymous said…
Taylor owned a version of this painting. There is a photograph of the painting in Cathy Opie's book on Taylor.

I wonder if the Broad owns a copy of the Opie photograph. Would be cool to see the two works side-by-side.
Anonymous said…
I was relived to see the Broad finally announce its special exhibitions for 2020. I had been worried that Marciano-type problems were brewing below the surface.

As for MOCA across the street? I'm happy that, as with the Broad, they now offer free daily admission.

When it comes to another part of LA's cultural scene?

FU, Michael Govan. A big "FU."


https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/lacma-part-ii-spamming-public/

> Already the Ahmanson Foundation....has without fanfare ceased its
> association with the museum. For over 50 years, it supported the
> acquisitions of the Department of European Painting and Sculpture
> with annual gifts.

> The reason for the Ahmanson Foundation’s quiet withdrawal is
> Govan’s refusal to commit dedicated space to the European collection.
> The Foundation was right to suspend support for a museum that
> effectively dismisses the European collections as a bunch of
> old brown paintings that no one wants to see anymore.

> J. Patrice Marandel, LACMA’s chief curator of European art and
> one of the most respected curators in the United States, has since
> left the museum. He recently told me, “Govan has destroyed my
> life’s work.”
Anonymous said…
Wow I had no idea the Ahmanson FOundation ceased association with LACMA. They've been one of the biggest supporters of the museum since its inception. What a loss! Why isn't the LA Times looking into this?!!
Anonymous said…
Why is the LA Times not looking into this? ... Because it is not true.

Last year, the Ahmanson Foundation awarded a $20,000 grant to Museum Associates
Anonymous said…
A lot more people had better get to the bottom of what's going on, regardless of whether it's pro-Govan or anti-Govan. But right now, most of the apparent BS is coming from the guy in charge of LACMA, not any outsiders.
Anonymous said…
LACMA's director and trustees are now a cultural version of the Coronavirus in China.


https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/lacma-part-iii-way-forward/

> A commercial exhibition conceived and assembled by a nonprofit
> museum director who is the head of a county department subsidized
> by taxpayers […] creates an ethical swamp of considerable depth.
> Neither LACMA’s board of trustees nor the L.A. County Board of
> Supervisors should stand for it.

> The Zumthor design should be impeached and shelved because LACMA
> has exhibited bad faith developing a project that has resulted
> in cost overruns and dysfunction that the museum hides. The
> project wastes massive amounts of money to shrink, and it wastes
> a large amount of land, also to shrink. Worst of all, this
> building devastates the collections that form the soul of LACMA.
Anonymous said…
What some people will believe?
The author of that piece in the LARB is a hack.
As an architect, he did not garner much attention or business.
As an architectural critic, he recently expressed admiration for the Shed (Hudson Yards). While other critics were keen to see the Shed for the public and architectural sham it is, Mr. Giovanni fell under the spell of the moving canopy. That moving canopy is named after Frank McCourt. Most Angeleno’s will remember Frank as the former owner of the Dodgers, the one who was chased out of town by Major League Baseball. It appears he’s still looking for respectability. Of course, the absurdity of the association between Hudson Yards and Frank McCourt was completely lost on Mr. Giovanni.
Anonymous said…
Michael Govan needs to get the hell out of Los Angeles. For the sake of the community and the quality of a large slice of its cultural life.